Department of Health (Ireland). (2009) Get Ireland Active: The National Guidelines on Physical Activity for Ireland [Online]. Available from: http://www.thehealthwell.info/node/773722 [Accessed: 19th December 2018].

A new website for parents, containing information and advice on pregnancy and the first 3 years of your child’s life. The site was created after research with parents and parents-to-be across Ireland.

Your guide to pregnancy, baby and toddler health

Trusted information from experts

Health services and support

Designed for parents, by parents

Over 4,000 parents took part in an online public survey - 20% of them were expecting a baby. Face-to-face research was also carried out. These parents included those at different stages of pregnancy and parenthood.

A NEW report on tackling childhood obesity has been published by the Joint Oireachtas Children and Youth Affairs Committee.

The report contains over twenty recommendations that relate to a whole systems approach (Recommendation 1) that will help schools, communities and families make healthier choices for young people. These cover:

Addressing socio-economic inequalities

Promoting sports and physical activity

Specific school–based initiatives

Amendments to regulations in respect to advertising and marketing in broadcast and non-broadcast media

Increased support for breastfeeding in Ireland

Research and measures to protect children and young people against potential links between obesity, mental health and portrayal af body image in social and traditional media

Results of Health Ireland 2018 Survey, with a focus on health inequalities, released today.

Healthy Ireland Survey is an annual survey of the health and wellbeing of the Irish population. The data from the Survey provides an up-to-date picture of the nation’s health. The results tell us how healthy or unhealthy Ireland currently is.

Ipsos MRBI, on behalf of the Department of Health, carried out the latest wave, wave 4 of the survey in 2017/18.

The survey provides and reports on current and credible data in order to enhance the monitoring and assessment of the various policy initiatives under the Healthy Ireland Framework

The Survey found that:

• Those in more deprived areas are less likely to rate their health as good or very good, and more likely to have a long-term health problem

• Those in more deprived areas are also more likely to smoke and binge drink

• Self-rated good health declines earlier for men in deprived areas (around the age of 55 to 64) than it does for both men in affluent areas and women in deprived areas

• Women living in more deprived areas are more likely than those in affluent areas to continue smoking and binge drinking into their 50s

A considerable amount of data is collected on a regular basis about health and social care services in Ireland.

It is vital that there is confidence and trust in the quality of this data and information in order to support the provision of safe and efficient health and social care to patients and service users.

HIQA has recently published The Data Quality Guidance, along with a Background paper and an interactive version of the Data Quality Assessment Tool in relation to a Data Quality Framework for health and social care.

An animation on the importance of data quality has also been developed.

There were 223 episodes of self-harm involving 138 individuals recorded in Irish prisons last year, according to a new report.

The first report on episodes of self-harm recorded in Irish Prisons found the annual person-based rate of self-harm was 4 per 100 prisoners. The rate of self-harm was higher among female prisoners and those on remand. In 2017, there were four episodes of self-harm (2% of all self-harm episodes) which resulted in the loss of life.

‘Tackling childhood obesity: the economic and ethical imperatives’ was held in Belfast on 24 September 2018.

The aim of the event was to present recent findings about the lifetime costs of childhood obesity in Northern Ireland and the marketing of food to children in a digital world. It provided a platform to discuss the implications for tackling childhood obesity in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland’s Health and Social Care Collective Leadership Strategy was launched in October 2017

The Strategy seeks to create a health and social care leadership community in which all take responsibility for nurturing cultures of high quality, continually improving, compassionate care and support.

The Department of Health in Northern Ireland is seeking your views in developing a core set of values and associated behaviours for Health and Social Care.

A new report by the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) and the European Alcohol Policy Alliance (EUROCARE) has made recommendations to address alcohol-related harm occurring in airports and aeroplanes. The report recommended:

Better licensing regimes in airports, including, in the UK, the application of the Licensing Act so that premises after security are required to follow the same legislation as premises in the rest of the country

Alcohol consumption at airports to be restricted to bars and restaurants, with alcohol bought at duty-free put in sealed containers and picked up by passengers at the gate or put directly into the hold of the aircraft.

Empowerment of local police forces at landing airports through the application of the Montreal Protocol.